As artificial intelligence replaces entry-level jobs, California's universities and community colleges are offering a glimmer of hope for students: free AI training that will help them master the new technology. "You're seeing in certain coding spaces significant declines in hiring for obvious reasons," Gov. Gavin Newsom said in early August from the seventh floor of Google's San Francisco office. Flanked by leadership from California's higher education systems, he called attention to the recent layoffs at Microsoft, Google's parent company, Alphabet, and at nearby Salesforce Tower, home to the tech company that is still the city's largest private employer. Now, some of those companies -- including Google and Microsoft -- will offer a suite of AI resources free to California schools and universities. In return, the companies could gain access to millions of new users.

Alexa Joyce, future skills director at Microsoft, discusses how the education sector can go about unlocking its'black box' of data As the UK education system recovers from the effects of the global pandemic, there has been a significant rise in attention paid to the increased use of technology in teaching and learning. Two billion learners will use digital learning services by 2050, while the education technology (edtech) market is projected to triple by 2025, with global spending reaching $404bn. As investment in edtech continues to grow, students, parents, and teachers face an array of solutions -- from digital personalised learning platforms, devices and accessories, through to multiple online courses. Alongside the opportunities technology provides for increasing accessibility, the wealth of data that edtech offers is unsurmountable. But, how can technology allow policymakers, school leaders and sector experts to unlock this'black box' of education data and use it for improved learning outcomes?

With student outcomes being a key performance metric for higher education institutes, many are turning to leverage data to glean insights and drive improved outcomes. "For many institutions, student performance has a direct impact on rankings. AI can be a tool to help better manage outcomes and ensure continued innovation to optimize operations and enhance student engagements, as it reduces resource-intensive work among faculty and administrative staff," said Larry Nelson, Regional General Manager – Education, Microsoft Asia. "In fact, we found that 3 out 4 education leaders agree that AI will be able to drive competitiveness in the next 3 years. However, only 32% of education institutions in Asia Pacific have embarked on their AI journey," added Nelson.

A lot of considerations go into building an edtech product. The best edtech products utilize adaptive branching, engage students, and collect learning data. That requires you to understand how the brain learns and retains information, As you construct your product, you're also going to need education leaders to validate the tools they use. Here's what they look for in edtech product validation. You have to understand education For education leaders to endorse your edtech product, they want to know that you understand their business.